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were often of more than an hour's duration, until a thirtyminute limit
was imposed.
One of the most stimulating innovations of this period was the Tech
News. A group of 1911 men originated the idea, and submitted it to the
Board of Trustees in the spring of 1909. Publication began the
following September, most of the staff being members of the class of
1911, with Stanley P. Stewart as editor-in-chief. This weekly paper
was well edited from the start, and became popular immediately. The
following year, the Tech News staff was given permission to use the
magnetic laboratory as its headquarters. The paper suspended
publication for a brief period in 1912, but resumed in the fall and
continued without a break thereafter, except during the war period in
1918.
From 1909 to 1911 there was a revival of interest in music and
dramatics. An excellent glee club was organized, later accompanied by
a mandolin club. Students were invited to compete for prizes in a
college song contest in 1909. William J. Weir, '10, won a third prize
of $1.50 for his "Fight For Tech," the only one of the three winning
songs that ever became popular. The dramatic instinct was developed in
the Class of 1912 early in their junior year. Howard P. King of that
class, assisted by Carl C. Gray, a local coach, wrote a play entitled
"Eldern's Uncle," which was staged as the first of a long series of
Tech Shows in April, 1911. It was a huge success, financially as well
as dramatically. The following year, "The Flirt," written by Mr. Gray
and also featuring life at the Institute, was equally well
received. Allied to dramatics, perhaps more correctly described as
annoyances to dramatics, were the annual Tech Nights at Poli's, a
local vaudeville house. On those occasions a large majority of the
student body took possession of the theatre, cheered for their
classes, the football team, or the theatre management, and vigorously
expressed their mass approval or disapproval of what went on on the
stage. They were usually reprimanded by the manager but never ejected.
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